Under historic laws, that go back to the Norman conquest, ‘Lordships of the Manor’ have the right to exploit minerals under common land around towns and villages or land that has been brought by someone else but is still on the ancient estate.

However unless the mineral rights are registered with the Land Registry before October 2013 they could be lost.

Accountants and estate agents are advising landowners to register their land as soon as possible in order to cash in on minerals like gravel, limestone and the new “energy gold”, shale gas.

This will ensure that landowners are able to profit from shale gas reserves, as long as they gain planning permission, even if the local community is against drilling.

The Doomsday Book lists 13,418 Lordships of the Manor who may hold rights over the sub-soil.

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There is estimated to be 150 billion cubic metres of shale gas under the UK, 50 per cent more than conventional gas reserves and enough to power Britain for decades.

The energy source has been a ‘game changer’ in the US and is considered by some in the UK to solve the problem of expensive fossil fuels from abroad.

However environmentalists are concerned that the process of extracting the gas causes earthquakes and can contaminate groundwater.

Fracking – shorthand for hydraulic fracturing – involves the blasting of water, chemicals and sand at high velocity into a shaft to crack rock and release gas.

The only fracking to have been done in the UK so far caused earthquakes in Lancashire, it was confirmed this week.

The most accessible gas is in the north of England under the Pennines in a band from Lancashire to Humberside. There is also shale gas under part of the South East including Hampshire, Sussex and Kent, South Wales, the Central Belt of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Andrew Arnott, a partner at accountants Saffery Champness, said 'Lords of the Manor' may have rights to land sold generations ago, when it was normal to retain rights over valuable resources, as well as common land.

“Given the potential for royalty income either from shale gas or other mineral extraction we are advising that estates investigate their mineral rights now," he said.

Robert Smith, Chairman of the Manorial Society of Great Britain, said his members are rushing to register before the 2013 deadline. Although they will still have rights after the deadline it will no longer be possible to register those rights, making property transactions extremely difficult.

The Duke of Northumberland, Duke of Bedford and Earl of Lonsdale have all registered Manorial rights. Ordinary people who live in manor houses or old rectories may also have 'Lordships of the Manor' and therefore own mineral rights in the area.

Registering mineral rights may cost hundreds of thousands of pounds once geological surveys, historic research and lawyers' fees are included, said Mr Smith.

Also Lords of the Manor will have to jump through a number of hoops around the State's rights to share oil and gas revenues, the rights of 'commoners' and local authority planning laws - but it should still be worth it.

"There is quite a bit of money knocking around," added Mr Smith.

Prof Mike stephenson, Head of Energy at the British Geological Society, said there is an enormous amount of shale gas under the UK, even if just a small proportion is accessible.

But he warned that unlike the US, where ‘fracking’ is widespread, the UK is more densely populated and communities are likely to protest.

“There is a lot of it down there but there are significant environmental concerns,” he said.

Nick Mohlo, Head of Energy Policy at WWF, was concerned landowners are planning to cash in on fracking.

“The idea of people fracking without the consent of the local community – even if they planning permission – is worrying. The water contamination and risks of tremors are not understood and it is crazy to go ahead without more evidence on what the risks are and what can be done to address those risks through environmental regulations.”

Environment groups including WWF want a moratorium on fracking in the UK until more research has been carried out.

More extreme groups like ‘Frack Off’ have already brought drilling operations to a halt and threatened to target any future plans for fracking in Britain.